White House petition on ‘47 GOP traitors’ draws 260,000 signatures

A petition to the White House demanding treason charges against 47 Republican senators who attempted to sabotage US President Barack Obama's efforts to reach a nuclear accord with Iran has garnered more than 260,000 signatures.

The petition, on whitehouse.gov, was filed on Monday and had 263,312 signatures as of early Friday morning, well above the threshold of 100,000, which requires the White House to respond.

In an unprecedented move on Monday, a group of Republican senators ignored protocol and sent a letter to Iran, warning that whatever agreement reached with Obama would be a “mere executive agreement” that could be revoked “with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms of the agreement at any time.”

The letter appears at a time when US negotiators are preparing to return to Switzerland to participate in the nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 countries – the US, Britain, France, China, Russia, and Germany, which have entered a sensitive final stage.

According to the petition, the 47 Republican lawmakers "committed a treasonous offense when they decided to violate the Logan Act, a 1799 law which forbids unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments."

The US federal law prohibits unauthorized American citizens from interfering in relations between the United States and foreign governments. Violation of the Logan Act is a felony.

"At a time when the United States government is attempting to reach a potential nuclear agreement with the Iranian government, 47 Senators saw fit to instead issue a condescending letter to the Iranian government stating that any agreement brokered by our President would not be upheld once the president leaves office," the petition states.

"This is a clear violation of federal law. In attempting to undermine our own nation, these 47 senators have committed treason," it adds.

In an interview with Press TV on Wednesday, Mark Dankof, former US Senate candidate, said, “The 47 Republican senators in all likelihood had violated the Logan Act, which, if understood properly, would suggest very strongly that there may be a legal case against these Republican senators in regard to having committed treason.”

Tom Cotton (pictured below), a freshman senator from Arkansas, drafted the much-criticized letter. He claimed that the letter has more support in the US Congress than the Republican senators who have signed it.

On Tuesday, the New York Daily News denounced the 47 Republican senators as “traitors” for writing letter to Iran. The Manhattan-based newspaper used its front page to condemn the Republicans for sending the letter to Iran’s leaders.

The tabloid's front page prominently featured Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senators Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton and Rand Paul.

Here are the names of 47 Republican senators who signed the Iran letter:

Signatories

Richard Shelby (Ala.)

Jeff Sessions (Ala.)

Dan Sullivan (Alaska)

John McCain (Ariz.)

John Boozman (Ark.)

Tom Cotton (Ark.)

Cory Gardner (Colo.)

Marco Rubio (Fla.)

Johnny Isakson (Ga.)

David Perdue (Ga.)

Mike Crapo (Idaho)

Jim Risch (Idaho)

Mark Kirk (Ill.)

Chuck Grassley (Iowa)

Joni Ernst (Iowa)

Pat Roberts (Kansas)

Jerry Moran (Kansas)

Mitch McConnell (Ky.)

Rand Paul (Ky.)

David Vitter (La.)

Bill Cassidy (La.)

Roger Wicker (Miss.)

Roy Blunt (Mo.)

Steve Daines (Mont.)

Deb Fischer (Neb.)

Ben Sasse (Neb.)

Dean Heller (Nev.)

Kelly Ayotte (N.H.)

Richard Burr (N.C.)

Thom Tillis (N.C.)

John Hoeven (N.D.)

Rob Portman (Ohio)

Jim Inhofe (Okla.)

James Lankford (Okla.)

Pat Toomey (Pa.)

Lindsey Graham (S.C.)

Tim Scott (S.C.)

John Thune (S.D.)

Mike Rounds (S.D.)

John Cornyn (Texas)

Ted Cruz (Texas)

Orin Hatch (Utah)

Mike Lee (Utah)

Shelley Moore Capito (W.V.)

Ron Johnson (Wis.)

Mike Enzi (Wyo.)

John Barrasso (Wyo.)

GJH/GJH

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